Dead Is the New Black by Marlene Perez

dinner, so I put an elbow in the ribs of the person holding me.
    "Daisy, it's me," Ryan said.
    "You nearly scared the life out of me," I said. "You can't go creeping around, not when there's a vampire loose."
    "Sorry, I didn't think," he said. It was darker in the stairwell and much more private. Or it would have been, except it was also already occupied by two freshmen who were pressed up against each other like they'd never heard of personal space.
    "Beat it!" I said, and they scampered.
    "Want to come over after school? We'll have the house to ourselves." Ryan pressed a kiss along the base of my neck and I shivered.
    "I can't make it today," I told him. "Samantha asked the squad to visit Rachel in the hospital." And maybe I could poke around and find out something about Rachel's mysterious illness. If Samantha was sucking her soul, I wanted to put a stop to it.
    "Sure," he said. "But I have tons of homework and I could use a little help with statistics."
    "That's why you asked me to your house after school? You wanted help with your homework?" Ryan was a straight-A student.
    He didn't say anything, and finally the light dawned.
    "Ryan Mendez, you were trying to lure me to your house under false pretenses," I said.
    "I just wanted to spend some time with you," he said. "Our first date was memorable, but we didn't get any time alone."
    Date? I thought. The Black Opal fiasco was a real date? Obviously, it wasn't a very good one. Of course, an awful first date with Ryan was ten times better than a smooth date with anyone else.
    "Drag," I said. "Samantha will have a conniption if I don't go to the hospital. And I'd really like to see Rachel."
    "It's okay. There will be other nights."
    I said, "There will, I promise."
    "Is that the only reason you dragged me into the stairwell?" Ryan asked, moving closer and putting his hands around my waist.
    I gave him a light punch on the arm. " You dragged me here, remember?"
    "And now I remember why," he said softly before he kissed me.
    A long moment later, I finally started to breathe again. "Ryan," I said, "Samantha is probably looking for me."
    "So?" he said. He brushed a lock of hair back from my face.
    "So she might see us," I said, panicking.
    "She already knows we're going out," he said calmly. He cupped the back of my head to pull me in for another kiss.
    "But you like her," I said.
    "Of course I like her," he said. "She's Sean's girlfriend and Sean's my friend."
    "No, you like her like her," I said. "You've had a huge crush on her since the second grade, you can't deny it."
    "Daisy, that was years ago," he replied. "I also ate paste and wanted to be a fireman. I don't like Samantha Devereaux except as a friend."
    "You don't?"
    He kissed the side of my neck. "I. Like. You." Each word was punctuated by soft kisses. "Now please kiss me," he said.
    Since he asked so nicely, I did. He did that nicely as well.
    Several minutes later, I pulled myself out of his arms. "Ryan, I've got to go. The squad will be waiting."
    I sprinted down the hall and then up the stairs to the main entrance. I grinned the whole way. Ryan liked me, not Samantha, not whoever else he'd been kissing in the morgue. He liked plain old Daisy Giordano.
    I met Samantha and the rest of the squad coming downstairs as I was coming up. The smile disappeared from my face.
    "Daisy, we've been looking everywhere for you," she snapped. "Did you forget about Rachel already?"
    "No," I huffed, trying to catch my breath. "Weren't we going to meet in the parking lot?"
    Samantha gave me a dead-eye stare but didn't say anything. I had a guilty feeling she knew what I'd been doing. A feeling that was confirmed when she handed me a tissue and whispered, "Your lipstick is smeared."
    "Thanks." She was being nice to me and covering my butt besides. In Samantha's case, being dead was a definite improvement.
    "Let's go!" she said. "Daisy, you can ride with me. I'll show you how to put on lipstick properly. We can't have our newest